


How We Met Highlighters

by Karmatose



Category: Original Work
Genre: Afterlife, Classroom, Helium - Freeform, Mythology?, Nightmare Fuel, balloon, highlighter, wolf - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 12:36:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20153692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karmatose/pseuds/Karmatose
Summary: A class goes into the history of highlighters and finds out they aren't exactly what they seem...





	How We Met Highlighters

**Author's Note:**

> This is just some crazy shit I came up with my friend. Everything is 100% true. Totally.
> 
> I can't credit my friend as she isn't on AO3, but we bounced ideas around a lot. She also helped me with writing sometimes when I was stuck.

_It's a sub today. Greeeat. _Drew took a seat in back of the class, putting his feet up on the desk. _This'll be fun._ He hated history, so this was a good opportunity to slack off. And maybe make the sub's life miserable in the process.

His friends loitered in, passing around high-fives and fist-bumps. The sub looked odd, on second glance. He was just slightly too tall, and lanky like a toothpick. It almost seemed as if he traded his body weight for a couple extra inches in a pact with the devil. There was no name written on the board, as subs tended to do, but he could've easily forgotten. Then again, he was staring at them all rather intensely from his position standing behind his desk. His chair was behind him, yet he didn't sit. His eyes looked rather dull, as if he wore a mask. _What a freak-job. _

Feeling a tap on his shoulder, Drew turned around to see his friend handing him a make-shift slingshot out of pencils and a rubber band. He gestured towards the sub, and then gave it to him. Drew got the hint. He just had to find something to throw. Without any convenient rocks nearby, he searched the bookshelf behind him. A bright yellow highlighter rested on the bookshelf, in front of some 2-inch-thick book he couldn't read the title of. _Who needs reading, anyway? _He picked it up, turning around to find the sub standing _right __there_. Holding in a girlish squeak of surprise, he stared into ghoulish eyes for a long moment, waiting for someone to say something. _Anything. _He passes a look between his friend in the desk beside him, his own eyes seeking sanctuary from this sub-turned-creep. His friend stared at him for a long moment, before turning away, as if to say, 'you're on your own'. In a fit of desperation, Drew threw the highlighter at the ever-creeping-closer teacher. Everything went still. It's as if time froze. And then....

**"DO YOU KNOW THE HISTORY OF .... HIIIIGHLIGHTERS???"**

_Wait, what? _For all intents and purposes, the teacher hadn't moved an inch. Even his mouth remained sealed shut, as if he hadn't spoken at all. But he didn't recognize that voice, so it couldn't be one of the other students. It _had _to be the teacher. His voice was so intense, like gravity was weighted in that monotone statement. When he realized he was waiting for an answer, Drew managed to squeak out an, "Um....No?

He had hoped the strange teacher - was he even a teacher at all? - would leave him alone after he granted him the response he had asked for, but the teacher only leaned closer, until their noses were nearly touching. Drew focused on avoiding his gaze for as long as possible, terrified to look into those empty eyes for one moment longer. The seconds ticked by, marked only by his own pounding heartbeat. Surprisingly, despite their closeness, he couldn't hear the teacher - no, this monster's heartbeat at all. Was he even alive? 

Then, as if nothing had passed between them at all, he suddenly saw the monster appear in front of the classroom, behind his desk, as he had been before. Had he imagined it all? Was this some sort of nightmare?_ Oh, please tell me I'm still in my warm bed where there's no nightmare teachers and I have piles of homework I haven't done to use as tissue paper when I wake up from his horrible dream! _He pinched himself, just as a test, closing his eyes tight and hoping with all his might. He opened his eyes, finding that everything was the same as it was before. Realization dawned on him that this was real. 

The teacher didn't open his mouth to speak. Yet, he still spoke. Maybe he was like one of those weird puppet guys that could speak with their mouth closed?_ But...where is the puppet? _**"HIGHLIGHTERS HAVE BEEN AROUND SINCE THE AGE OF THE CAVEMAN. THEY ARE THE OLDEST, AND MOST PRIZED, INVENTION OF ALL HUMANITY. OR...SO I SHOULD HOPE."**

The bravest student Drew will likely ever know raised her hand, her fingers trembling despite her efforts to hide it. "Um...Mr....Um....Are you...Sure? Because, I'm pretty sure highlighters are a more....recent invention."

**"NO."**

A long silence passed. No one dared speak. No one dared challenge this teacher again, for his words felt like ice in their ears. They waited patiently for the teacher to continue the strange lesson, committed to just waiting it out. Thankfully, the teacher didn't take long to resume.

**"ONCE UPON A TIME..." **Silently, Drew wondered if they were being told a fairy tale now. Surely this wasn't content for a history class? **"THERE WAS A WOLF NAMED FAITH. SHE GAVE BIRTH TO A STILLBORN PUP, WHO WENT BY THE NAME OF HYLER. IN THE AFTERLIFE, HE WAS OFTEN CHASTISED FOR HIS SUPPOSEDLY...DUBIOUS USE OF HIGHLIGHTERS. AND HELIUM. YOU SEE, BEFORE HUMANITY EVEN CAME TO EXIST, THE AFTERLIFE HELD MANY GREAT TECHNOLOGIES. HIGHLIGHTERS BEING ONE OF THEM. AND HELIUM." **_What kind of story is this? _Drew tried to avoid paying attention, fearing that the strange story would be burned into his memory, never to be forgotten...and yet he couldn't seem to filter out the intense grating voice. The voice just didn't sound right. Like it wasn't something of this world.

**"HYLER OFTEN MADE HIMSELF FLOAT WITH THE AMOUNT OF HELIUM HE CONSUMED. HIS VOICE WAS ALWAYS VERY HIGH, AND HIS MOUTH WAS ALWAYS STAINED BRIGHT YELLOW." **It was in this moment that Drew noticed how unusually high the teacher's voice was. And yet, despite the high pitch, it had all the powerful qualities of a deep tone. **"HIS FELLOW AFTERLIFE COMPANIONS WOULD OFTEN SAY HE DIED FROM CONSUMING TOO MUCH HIGHLIGHTER FLUID, BUT I _PROMISE YOU_ HE WAS A STILLBORN." **One of the more jittery students sitting in the front was nodding erratically, as if afraid to contradict anything this teacher said. Drew couldn't blame him.

**"HYLER WAS A CLUMSY PUP. I'M SURE IT _WASN'T _AN EFFECT OF HIS DIET." **Drew couldn't help but raise one eyebrow at that statement, and immediately regretted it as the teacher's head swiveled to focus on him. He blinked, and suddenly he was right in front of him again, staring him down. This time, he couldn't avoid his gaze.

**"DREW, YOU ARE CHOSEN." **_Wait, what? _Drew panicked internally at the robotic statement. _Chosen for what? I don't want to be chosen! _He blinked again, and the teacher was suddenly back at the desk. _How does he move so fast? For that matter, how did he know my name? _Fear inched up his spine as the teacher continued his lesson, as if nothing had happened. His friends sent him vaguely sympathetic looks. **"ONE DAY, HYLER WAS ENJOYING THE FINEST HIGHLIGHTER FLUIDS HE HAD EVER TASTED...WHEN HE DROPPED THE HIGHLIGHTER. IT PHASED THROUGH THE CLOUDS AND FELL DOWN TO EARTH, WHERE HE COULD NOT REACH IT. HE WATCHED IN HORROR AS A HUMAN PUP PICKED IT UP, CHEWING ON THE CAP. THAT WAS M-HYLER'S HIGHLIGHTER! AND IT TASTED SOOOO GOOD..." **The teacher began to get angry. The student's fear was tangible in the room. **"NO ONE ELSE SHOULD BE ABLE TO TASTE THE WONDERS OF HIGHLIGHTER FLUID! THAT WAS VINTAGE HIGHLIGHTER!" **The students cringed back as the teacher's voice got louder and louder. Maybe someone outside the classroom would hear? Surely they could save them?

**"BUT, I DIGRESS." **The teacher continued after a moment of deep breathing, his voice back to it's normal volume, although that in itself was already rather loud. **"THE HUMAN PUP PASSED IT ALONG TO IT'S PARENTS, WHO TREATED IT AS A CURIOSITY. AS THE AGES PROGRESSED, THE HIGHLIGHTER REMAINED AS AN OBJECT OF WORSHIP TO HUMANITY. NEAR THE INDUSTRIAL ERA, HOWEVER, THE HIGHLIGHTER BECAME LESS AN OBJECT OF WORSHIP, AND MORE SOMETHING TO BE LEARNED FROM. A PROJECT BEGAN TO REVERSE ENGINEER THE HIGHLIGHTER AND CREATE MORE OF THEM. THIS PROJECT SUCCEEDED, AND NOW, IN THE 21ST CENTURY, THE HIGHLIGHTER IS NOW FOUND IN ALMOST EVERY CONVENTIONAL CLASSROOM." **

Suddenly the bell rings, and some of the braver - or maybe more cowardly - students begin to gather their stuff to leave, but all it takes is a single word from the teacher to stop them in their tracks. **"STOP." **The students freeze, their gazes focused again on the teacher. Vaguely, Drew wondered how many teachers would kill to have that kind of power over their students.

It took Drew a long moment to realize the teacher was staring at him. The lack of moving pupils probably really didn't help the matter. His too-long sleeve covered his hand as it reached up ever-so-slowly towards his face. His arm was spindly, too thin to be human and yet covered in baggy clothes so you couldn't tell for sure how thin they really were. It looked like he hadn't eaten in 100 years. Slowly, hidden fingers pried off his expressionless face like something out of a horror movie. The mask was slowly torn off to reveal bright yellow fuzzy lips and a long snout, big ears peeking out of the fake hair. A swirl of different highlighter colors - blue, yellow, pink, green, and a few flecks of others - colored his wide eyes. The strange wolf pup was inflated at the stomach, presumably from the effects of years of Helium abuse. In scrawny paws he held two sticks, each controlling a different 'arm' covered in baggy sleeves. He stood on a platform created by his stilts, also covered in baggy pants. Drew's eyes might as well have been glued to this strange freak of nature. It took him a moment to work up the nerve to look around, but when he did he found all his fellow students asleep, draped over their desks or sometimes having fallen out of them. 

He felt himself growing very sleepy, and he didn't have it in him to be shocked. He was just tired. Oh, so very tired. 

* * *

**LATER THAT DAY**

* * *

"Drew, darling. Wake up for me, please?"

_Oh thank God! It was just a nightmare... _His mom's comforting voice cradled him in warmth, but he delayed opening his eyes. Something felt wrong. He knew that as soon as he opened his eyes, the illusion would be dropped. Alas, he had to open his eyes eventually. When he did, he was confronted with a white tile ceiling, his mother and father leaning over him in concern. He glanced around, confused, and found an IV drip to his side, feeding fluids into his arm. In a moment of horror, he thought he saw a bright yellow liquid inside the bag, but he blinked the illusion away to find it was just a regular IV. 

"Darling, are you alright?" He glanced at his mother, realizing he'd been staring at the IV for too long, half expecting it to turn back to a bright yellow.

"...What happened?" He questioned, and his parents exchanged worried glances.

"We're not sure, actually. You just kind of passed out in class. The doctor can't figure out what's wrong with you, either. Are you sure you're alright?" His father chimed in. Drew was silent for a long moment, processing that information through his slow, sleep-addled brain.

"What happened to the other students? And the sub?"

"What sub?" His mother asked, confusion etching it's way into her face.

"Hyler!" He explained, beginning to grow irritated with their ignorance. What was going on?

"Did you hit your head when you passed out?" His father questioned, examining his head for bumps or bruises.

Drew shook him off, "No, no! I'm fine! Just never mind. It was probably nothing." Clearly, his parents didn't know what was going on. There was no point making them more worried about him than they already were. "Can I have the room to myself? I'm kinda tired." He lied. He needed to think.

His parents seemed worried, but relented. "Alright. We'll just let you rest. If you need us, just call, okay?"

* * *

**5 YEARS LATER**

* * *

_It's a sub today. Greeeat. _Garry took a seat in front of the class, taking out his binder and pencils, prepared. _Hopefully he knows what he's doing._ He loved history, so he hoped this substitute at least could teach them something. If nothing else, he could study the textbook on his own.

His friends filtered in, taking their seats studiously. The sub looked odd, on second glance. He was just slightly short, and built like a bodybuilder. It almost seemed as if he traded his height for a extra muscles in a pact with the devil. The name 'Drew' was written on the board, barren of honorifics. It also sounded like a first name. Odd. Then again, he was staring at them all rather intensely from his position standing behind his desk. His chair was behind him, yet he didn't sit. His gaze swept over the class without emotion. _What a freak-job._

** _"DO YOU KNOW THE HISTORY OF .... HIIIIGHLIGHTERS???"_ **

**Author's Note:**

> I hope I scarred you for life.


End file.
